On The Self-selection And Transcendence Of The Characters In Saul Bellow's Novels

There are many similarities among the protagonists in the novels written by Saul Bellow,such as Moses Herzog,Augie March,Charlie Citrine and so on.Most of them are the American Jewish,with the sensitive and fragile characteristics,special and independent,who cannot match the society and can be called as "Bellow-styled characters".On the one hand,these"Bellow-styled characters" undertake the misunderstanding and pressure of the western world to the Jewish;on the other hand,in the modern society where the technology is fast developing and the relationship among people is gradually cold,they are also feeling the confusion and hardship of the modern people.They miss the past and always try to escape the existing rules and constraints of the contemporary society but without any clear direction.Based on the three points above,it can be said that the "Bellow-styled characters" survive in the narrow space between the outer reality and their own world.Dissatisfaction with the reality makes "Bellow-styled characters" tend to escape from reality.As intellectuals with higher education,according to the book knowledge and their own past experiences,they form a relatively complete system of value,and conceived a Utopian world according to this value system,to fight the reality of the plight of the individual.The Utopian of the "Bellow-styled characters" consists of social utopia,love utopia and art utopia.Each part shows the grand delicate but impractical with idealism,proving their Utopian idea cannot realize.After the second world war,the United States had great achievements in economy and technology,but there were endless social problems.In this social context,a group of revolutionaries attempted to reconstruct a new Utopian world according to their own ideals.Different revolutionaries have designed different utopias.Radical young people want to turn the earth into a violent utopia,and scientists want to build a technological utopia on the moon.Violent utopia practice make society into a wider range of chaos.The technology without humanities also is unable to support a complete functioning of the world,therefore the violence utopia and technological utopia in the novels eventually disappear.In the exploration and practice of this stage,whether the Utopian trilogy of "Bellow-styled characters" or the Utopian practice of the revolutionaries both failed.After the failure of trying to escape from the reality,the "Bellow-styled character" have a further understanding and feeling of the relationship between the individual and the society.Finally they are willing to face up to their national identity,bravely pursue personal dreams;In the real life,they play their social role and assume the responsibility;while properly compromise with the society,they preserve the critical vision and sober mind."Bellow-styled characters"finally found their "foothold" in the modern society.From the perspective of social development,there is no denying that social development has its running track,but the progress of modern civilization still need efforts.Use love among people to replace the violence,and combine the power of science with humanities thoughts.Only in this way can society get rid of the status of the "wasteland" and better protect the "contract" among individuals.